


Fuel

by orphan_account



Series: Quench my thirst with gasoline [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Exile Ryder, F/M, Friends With Benefits To Lovers, Life on Kadara is good, Lucy is basically the black sheep of the family, Non Pathfinder Ryder, summaries what are summaries, tags suck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-11-21 06:39:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11351955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lucy Ryder lives a free life on Kadara. After leaving the Nexus, the Initiative and her unloved brother behind, she finally settles down, does her job as an engineer and mechanic, until a new job seems to shove her right into trouble. Someone is trying to disturb the peace between the Collective and the Nexus and for the sake of her friends, Lucy will try and help to uncover, who threatens their newfound peace.





	1. One.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> This fic started as a kind of 'Get this out of my system' kind of thing. I don't want to talk long. I will write this one alongside my other Andromeda fic and try to update as soon, as my muses let me. 
> 
> Lucy's character was inspired by the song 'Fuel' by Metallica.
> 
> Comments, Kudos and feedback is always appreciated. You can also always reach me on my tumblr: http://shaken-veil.tumblr.com/
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Peace.

Peace has a lot of different meanings for every single person in this galaxy and beyond. For some it’s the silence of space, while one is drifting in the orbit of some planet, or dancing the worries away in some club.. And for someone like Lucy, it is laying in a bed, while whiskey burns it’s way down her throat. The very own definition of breakfast. The heat of Kadara’s sun hasn’t completely overtaken the small room and has been merciful so far, though it bathes the surroundings in a warm orange. It offers another kind of comfort. 

Lucy puts the bottle aside and reaches for a package of cigarettes, which is laying on the nightstand. She takes it with her, when she slowly climbs out of the bed, the light blanket slipping off her naked body, her bare feet making quiet patting sounds, as she walks over the cold floor, towards the rather tiny balcony on the other side of the room. The sun turns her tan skin tone more into some kind of bronze. 

She opens the package of cigarettes, takes one out, together with a lighter. Lucy puts it between her lips and takes a drag, breathing out some smoke a moment later. Right after sunrise Kadara port is so silent, barely someone seems up yet. Only some lonely figures sneak over the market. A soft breeze is brushing her arms, causing some goosebumps to rise and making her smile. 

In the corner of her eyes, she sees a bottle of Whiskey move into her field of sight. A warm hand trails along the bare skin of her waist, followed by a solid chest pressing against her back. 

“You’re up early.” Reyes’ voice is heavy and rough from sleep, also the whiskey. “Come back to bed…” 

“Only because you can allow yourself to sleep until noon, it doesn’t mean others can do the same, Vidal.” Lucy looks over her left shoulder, just see his smug smirk. “You asked me yesterday to repair the control screen of your shuttle and I have another assignment later on for some mines... “

“Mines? Who requested mines?”

“Your people, stop frowning. I don’t even have to see it. You can put your mask down here, you know? I’m not one of your little lap dogs.” She takes another drag from her cigarette and looks over the port. 

“Mhhmm.. But you like to sit on my lap.” His words are answered by a small giggle from her side and she nudges back with her elbow, to his side. 

“Smug bastard.” Lucy turns around and blows some smoke to the side, so it won’t bother him. “You’re still naked! Get dressed or you can repair that screen by yourself!” She slaps his shoulder and laughs, throwing the finished cigarette off the balcony and walks past him. Reyes chuckles, but instead of following, he takes a sip from that whiskey.   
“Have you heard from your brother? They said, he had been lifting a whole criminal ‘ring’ on Elaaden. What a nonsense…”, Reyes tells her, while he finally walks back and starts collecting his clothes. 

“I can’t give less fucks about what Jake does, Reyes. And if he gets eaten by a fucking sinkhole…”, she shoots back and starts getting dressed herself, slipping her legs into the comfortable, but rather washed out jeans. He throws her bra, which was lying somewhere.. on the ground and Lucy catches it without any trouble. “People keep shit talking me, because of him. The famous Jake Ryder and all his fucking good deeds for Heleus.” 

Lucy hates talking about her brother. Since they came here, she never wanted to have anything to do with him at all. She had always been the unloved, black sheep of the family. Her work in the Alliance had been over, as soon as her father was kicked out. Thanks for that, dad. 

“Lucy.. I’m sorry. I know, you don’t like hearing about him, but against all odds, I have to work with the man for the sake of Kadara…” Reyes gives her a helpless shrug and tosses her top into her direction. Lucy catches it and sighs in defeat. 

“I know. Don’t worry about me, alright? I’m fine. Just pissed at my family and their fucking Initiative.” Fully dressed now, she slips into her boots and yawns quietly. “I’ll see you later?”

“My door’s open for you, whenever you want.” 

She walks up to Reyes, gives him a short kiss on his cheek and leaves his small apartment the moment later. 

~~

Coming to Andromeda hadn’t meant much to her at all. It was basically an escape from her life in the Milky Way. The life, as an engineer, in the Alliance suited her just fine. She had a job, even some friends, which was, and still is, very unlikely for her. 

The Nexus however, isn’t the Alliance.. or military.. 

The only thing it is, it’s a giant shit show with complete retards as leadership. The bad blood with her brother only added to her distrust and anger. That was, when she was still part of his crew. After waking up from a coma, being kidnapped and tortured.. Not even thinking about her connection to SAM being used.. 

But when they first travelled to Kadara, it was like a breeze of fresh air flooding her lungs. Nobody gave a shit about what she had done in the Milky Way. Alright, sometimes people bothered her because of her brother, but that was it.. She could do, what she did best. Repairing tech, building bombs and mines… and sometimes helping the Collective on risky jobs. 

Jake, sometimes a bit dumb and too trustfull, as he is, told her about his business on Kadara and about the Collective.. This also was, how she met Reyes. 

While Lucy walks towards the landing zones for the shuttles, she thinks about her trusted friend… with benefits, sometimes. Reyes is one of the good guys, even if he would rather have everyone else belief otherwise. It is hardly surprising, that he tries to separate his usual self and the Charlatan from one another, as far as possible. And again, it had been her brother to burst out with Reyes’ biggest secret to her. 

The thought makes her roll her eyes. Idiot. At least he didn’t tell anyone else..

Repairing the monitor in Reyes’ shuttle is no big deal for her. More like a small errand, a little favor for a friend. Some of the older wires are damages and simply need to be replaced. A matter of an hour for her and only an hour, because she has to crawl under this thing and make the repairs from below.. 

The faint sound of a ship’s engine in the distance causes her to pause her work for a moment. Lucy pushes the screwdriver between her teeth and pulls herself back into the free air. It doesn’t sound like the usual shuttles, which come and go every day. Once she is on her feet, she wipes her hands off with a piece of cloth, hanging over her toolbox. From behind the mountains appears the Tempest, aiming for Kadara Port. She pulls a face of disgust, when the vessel passes her by and goes down onto it’s normal spot outside of the port. 

What does her brother want here? Maybe she is lucky and Vetra and Drack just want to restock on.. things, which the Nexus doesn’t offer... If she was unlucky, then her brother was here for business and/or to bother her. 

The moment she finished that thought, her comm pings with an incoming call. She accepts it without looking and is actually surprised, when she hears Keema’s voice on the other end, not Reyes or maybe even her brother.. or SAM… 

“Lucy, the Pathfinder is about to pay us a visit.” She can hear the exhale of smoke on the other end, it makes her shake her head. 

“Do you know why?”, Lucy asks and turns her gaze towards the Tempest once more. This ship only meant two things… Good things for the business here on Kadara or, more likely, trouble. But what kind of trouble? She doesn’t know of anything.. It has been almost a year, since the Hyperion crashed on Meridian.. 

“I don’t have any informations, neither does Reyes.” A short pause. “He offers for you to hide in his shuttle until the danger passes.” The angaran woman sounds slightly amused by the message. Lucy only rolls her eyes, kills the call and packs her tools together. She only has to finish up the monitor now, since all the cables are fixed. 

“He just needs to leave me alone…”, she says to herself and puts a new screen into the console of Reyes’ shuttle…  
~~

Kralla’s Song, despite being so loud and full most of the time, feels like a hiding spot for Lucy. Blending in with the crowd and ignore everything, that doesn’t matter. It is a blessing. The music is not exactly her taste, she prefers rock and metal music, but one can’t be picky here in Kadara, so it’s better than nothing. 

She stands at the bar, leaning on one elbow and looks down into her glass, filled with the poor insult, they call ‘Vodka’. It has alcohol and burns, when it runs down her throat, she isn’t in the position to ask for much. Everything is better, than to be stuck on an Initiative hellhole with demons bothering one all the way. 

Lucy huffs and takes another sip, while she watches Umi intimidate another guest to pay his bill. It makes her smirk. Life here isn’t easy, but it is better than anything on the Nexus… And a lot more fun. She finished off her drink and pays the Asari for it with a smile, which is returned.

She likes Umi. They had some nice talks in the past, but she also helped kicking some idiots out here. Though now it’s time for her to head home. The small room behind the weapon shop, it’s comfortable enough for her and has room for a bed and the view things, she calls her own. Some books (real books!), some sketchbooks. a small workbench and her broken tattoo gun.. 

Turning around to wave Umi goodbye, Lucy crashes into something that feels like a solid wall, just not so.. stony. She blinks and looks up.. right into the same blue eyes as hers. Oh no. Not good. She should have listened to Reyes’ plan of hiding in his shuttle.

“Lucille. Leaving already?” Jake’s face is friendly and he smiles. It fills her with disgust, she knows it’s a fake smile and she wants to punch her fist into it. “Can we talk? Just for a moment?” 

“No.”, she spits back and tries to move past him, though her brother stands in her way, again. 

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, an annoyed expression in his eyes. Seems like her dear little brother has too much authority on his hands most of the time. Well, he is not on the Nexus here. Lucy takes a deep breath and glares back with the most evil glance she can do. 

“Lucy, I just want to see my sister…”

“No, Jake. You want to get your lost family member back on the boat, so no one can talk bad about you. But! Oh, don’t worry!” Her voice is dripping with sarcasm. “You are still the shining hero to everyone.” 

“Why this again? Can’t you just get over yourself and stay with me? Why all this?” His voice goes up now and she hates it. He always has to be right, it had been like this already, when they were kids. Some things never change. She is aware of his achievements as the Pathfinder, but all she can think about is, what she has been through.. with the Archon and Meridian.. 

Quickly she shakes the memories off and turns her attention back to her brother. “Why this again? Maybe because: Fuck yourself!”, Lucy yells back, but flinched, when she hears the smashing of a bottle. 

“Not. In. My. Bar!”, Umi’s voice interrupts the awkward silence, that developed a moment before. 

Lucy looks at her and then back at Jake. She huffs and leaves the bar with harsh steps, fighting back the tears stinging in her eyes. She is embarrassed by them. Nothing makes her cry, well nearly nothing, but her brother always has a good hand for this, guilt tripping her and then making her feel bad about herself and her life. 

The cool air of Kadara’s night hit her in the face, one she steps outside of Kralla’s Song. A deep breath to flood her lungs with it and it helps her to calm down. A bit distressed, Lucy scratches the shaved side of her head. Time to go home.. 

The door of the small cabin falls shut behind her and for a second, the whole room is pitch black. With blind movements, she walks over to the workbench and turns on a lamp. On top of the working table lays a small pile of spare parts and a damaged tattoo gun. Her small passtime project.. Someday, it will work again and then she can do, what she always wanted. Just doing her art and work on her things… without the pressure of her name. Sometimes she thinks about just to change it.. Or disregard it completely. 

Lucy leans over the machine and loosens a bolt with a small screwdriver, when the comm device of her omni tool gives a small ‘ping’. A text message.. from Reyes?

‘Lucy.

Heard about the trouble at Kralla’s Song. Are you alright? Want to come over later for a drink? Let’s say 2 hours? I have business to attend to with our Initiative friends, but we need to speak afterwards.’

She frowns at the message. Always cryptic.. But she gets the meaning, so she starts writing back. Some time with a friend probably helps the most right now. 

‘Alright, see you then.’

It’s a simple answer, but it’s clear enough. The rest of the time, she will spend working on her little project here and wait for the time to pass…. 

~~

Lucy slams her fist against the door of Reyes’ small apartment and waits for the smuggler to open, what he does a moment later. Wordless, to her surprise, he steps aside and lets her in. 

“Your brother is deeply upset about your encounter earlier today. He tried to avoid my questions, when I spoke with him earlier.”, he tells her while walking to his small couch and sits down, reaching out a glass of whiskey to Lucy. She follows him and simply falls onto the cushion with a sigh, taking the glass.

“My brother can suck my sweaty, like sulfur stinking, ass.”, she comments and takes a long gulp from the glass. “He just worries about his image.”

“I am aware… and your ass doesn’t stink like sulfur.” Reyes gives her a side glance, one eyebrow raised, looking quite amused. 

“Oh, you would know that?” She nudges him against the side with her elbow and instantly has to smile, but she turns serious a moment later. “I just hope, that Jake leaves as sudden, as he appeared here… Your shuttle monitors are fixed, by the way. I upgraded them a little. They were so old…” 

“You will have my eternal thanks for protecting my eyes from the pest, which are too old monitors!”, he exclaims with a dramatic gesture. Lucy laughs hard and even snorts quietly. She nearly chokes on her whiskey. “Jokes aside.. I messaged you for a reason.” 

“Oh? That reason is? You made a hint.” 

“Our caves in Draullir. With the Collective taking over Kadara and the remaining Outcasts getting desperate without Sloane’s guidance.. Also there appeared a new player in the game, recently. I have a job for you…” 

A job? Lucy is always interested in some extra work, especially since the Collective pays very well, which might comes from the good connections to their..boss. So she looks questioning at him. Reyes hands her a datapad and she looks at the text, which is written on it. The informations are quite interesting. 

“Someone is stealing from the Outpost? Isn’t that work for my brother?” Why would she be interested in helping the Initiative’s people? 

“It’s far more, than stealing. I think, the Nexus is trying to keep this quiet. I promised them my full protection and I intend to keep my side of this deal, with or without their approval. You are an excellent engineer and sniper, also very smart…”

“Flattery will not lower the price for my work, Vidal.”, she throws in with a mocking tone.

“Not at all my intention, but I trust you. You are my friend. I want you to figure out what’s going on and report back to me immediately, as soon as informations offer themselves. We can’t let that slide and risk, that some one’s using Initiative resources against us, or others. We can’t risk a fight, Lucy.” Reyes takes a sip from his whiskey. “The collective is stronger now and with the Nexus’ as allies it got better, but there are still threats out there and…” He pauses.

“And..? What are you not telling me?” Lucy puts her glass down and reaches out for his forearm, giving it a gentle squeeze and if she isn’t mistaking in reading him, he feels awkward?

“I didn’t want you to get involved in this, but Keema insisted, that we send someone, we trust.. who is not under my command.” He looks a bit apologetic at her, only to meet her knowing smile.

“Of course. I will do it, Reyes. I would never let you or Keema down, you know that.” She refills her glass without asking. “Ah, Vidal.. what would you do without the guiding hands of your female friends by your side?” 

“Running around, chasing after a very much pretty guy’s’ or girl’s behind?” He smirks and lifts his glass towards her. “Oh no, I would be lost, completely and utterly.. lost. Cheers, Amiga.” 

“Cheers.” They grin at each other and drink to their new contract.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy goes out with Reyes to figure out, what's happening to the Initiative cargo. Also unwillingly meets her brother -again-.   
> ~
> 
> This goes up unbeta'd because. Well, just because. ^^
> 
> You can always visit me on my tumblr here: http://shaken-veil.tumblr.com/
> 
> Enjoy  
> \- Jules

It has been a while, since she had put on her combat gear, mostly being busy with small engineering jobs or helping out at the docks as a mechanic. The weight of the Black Widow sniper rifle resting on her back feels familiar and unknown at the same time. The movements of the shuttle under her feet leave Lucy a bit wonky. The last time, she has been in the air, has been when she set foot on Kadara for the first time. Seems so long ago…

“You look tense, Amiga. Relax. We’ll set down on the outpost soon.”

And the choice of pilot is rather questionable as well….. 

“Don’t give yourself too much credit, Vidal.” Lucy pauses. “Anything new regarding my job?” The informations were very.. little, to say it nicely. She is always up for a challenge, but working with so little details is always a risk. 

“Not much. You will need to speak with Christmas, or look around yourself. Shouldn’t be so hard. I have trust in you..” Reyes looks over his shoulder for a moment, but then focusses on flying again. 

“So much trust, that the famous Charlatan accompanies me? You know that Keema and I are against this.. You’re too important for this. I would rather do this alone.”, she tells him, serious concern in her voice. She is worried, of course. Worried for the only real friend she has, aside from Keema maybe, though one never knows with the angaran woman. She is.. flexible. 

“Ryder, you wound me. Do you not believe, that I am capable of taking care of myself?”

“Of Kadara, the Collective and so on.. Yes. Yourself? No.” She moves to the front of the shuttle and takes her rifle off her back, before sitting down on the seat, to the right of Reyes. 

“Isn’t it wonderful to have friends, who believe in you?”, he teases back and chuckles. Lucy leans on her Black Widow and snorts, before she starts laughing quietly, shaking her head lightly. 

“Well, we shall see how that goes.”

“Soon enough, we’re here.”

~~

Christmas didn’t have much informations for her, except some notes on stolen initiative resources and that they tracked a weird signal further into the hills between the Sulfur Springs and Draullir. Reyes is leaning against his shuttle, arms crossed over his chest and watching Lucy, while she is checking her combat gear. A small bag, filled with something, that looks like bombs. She reached into one of her many pockets, on her hand a small disk, that comes to life, when Lucy holds it out in front of her. 

It expands and turns into a hovering drone, that immediately takes position behind her and stills, only the blue lights dancing over the surface. The look, that Reyes gives her, makes her stop and raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“Did you stock your gear up, since the last time, we went out?” His expression is questioning and it makes her clear her throat, while she pulls her sniper rifle off the back, checking it with a critical eye. 

“It’s been two months, since we ‘went out’ together. Girl’s gotta keep her stuff together.” As an answer, she only gets a ‘Hmph’ in agreement. Reyes picks up his own weapon and puts it on his back, as they venture out towards the source of the signal. Even with not being part of the Pathfinder’s team, her scanner works just fine and they can track the electromagnetic waves back to a cave above a sulfur pool. 

It is a short climb over some rocks to reach the dark entrance. It seems pitch black in there, nothing to see at all. Weird, even with the sunlight coming from behind their backs. “Let’s go, I want to see what’s going on here.” She doesn’t wait for him to follow and pulls herself up without any problems. The stones are supportive and not slippery so it’s easy. Reyes follows close behind and dusts off his suit with a frown. 

“How far do you think this goes?”, she asks, turning the light on top of her scope on. 

“You can never say with the caves here… Guess we have to find out.” He shoots her a rather amused glance. “But I don’t think, that your Black Widow will be of help in there.” 

Lucy looks back at him, completely deadpan, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she returns the sniper rifle to her back and grabs the pistol from the belt, resting against her waist. “Smartass.”, she mutters and turns on a light on her suit, instead of on her weapon. He chuckles, mostly to himself and Lucy really doesn’t want to waste anymore time and moves forward. 

The tunnel is really dark. Usually, Kadara’s caves have at least some light, because of holes in the ceiling or from the entrance itself, but this one? Black. She doesn’t stop, however and continues to follow the path deeper into the darkness. 

“Someone ask me again, why I prefer Tartarus, instead of our base in Draullir.”, Reyes grumbles and looks around, still walking behind her. Lucy doesn’t listen to his ramblings, only focusses on the way forward and the small light from her amor reveals something curious. 

Containers.. Marked by the Initiative.

“Well.. Fuck.”, she says out loud and examines the empty crates. “What the shit?” 

Curious at her curses, her companion follows quickly and doesn’t seem as nearly, as surprised, like Lucy herself. Reyes crouches down and lets his gaze wander over the cargo. He opens his omnitool and types something on it. She frowns down at him and shakes her head. She has nothing to do with his Collective business.. or whatever he is doing. Lucy rather climbs over the crates, further into the back, where she finds something interesting..

She picks up a datapad and activates it with a swipe of her finger over the screen. It’s a note from someone named ‘Yaz’, talking about the stolen Initiative cargo.. They want to smuggle something… and as she continues reading, the frown on her face only deepened. 

“Reyes.” Lucy grabs the pad and pulls herself up with one arm over a crate. It is more difficult, that she imagined first, since her boots are very good for climbing over rocks and uneven territory, but some blank polished Initiative boxes? What a pain…

“You found something?..” Reyes looks up from his omnitool and lifts an eyebrow, as he watches her balancing her way out of there. “Careful, Lucy. Don’t fall.” The moment he says it, she looks up with a questioning gaze and… slips. 

She crashes onto the floor with a noise, that could have woken up a whole battalion of Kett. A colourful string of curses leave her lips, when she sits up again, rubbing the back of her head, which has collided with the metal frame of the box next to her. A throbbing headache instantly spreads behind her forehead. Lucy groans annoyed and gets back to her feet. Only then she realises the rich laugh of Reyes, who clearly seems to be enjoying himself. The young woman narrows her eyes and points her finger at him.

“Stop that! Right now!”

He just snorts a bit and tries to calm himself, but fails horribly. “I’m sorry, Luce...No, actually I am not.” Lucy jumps to her feet and punches him on his shoulder, not so hard, though, she doesn’t really want to hurt him. It is just a reminder, that she doesn’t like being laughed at. 

“So much for always being a gentleman! I’ll never believe you anything again.”, she shoots at him and turns around. 

“You know, I’m a liar.”, Reyes replies, still snickering and following her. 

“Fuck you, Reyes.” Lucy grumbles to herself but stops dead in her tracks, when she hears a growl from one of the other paths, as soon as they reach the crossing. There is still a way ahead to the exit. Her bright blue eyes turn wide. ‘What is that?’, she mouths towards Vidal and he frowns deeply, but stands still as well. 

From the sound of it, it is something big. Great. 

The ground shakes from heavy movements and a shadow moves through one of the tunnels. The gigantic shadow of an Eiroch….. 

“Shit.”, is everything Reyes says. “We should go!” 

“Agreed!” Lucy darts forward and runs towards the small light at the end of the cave. Sadly for them, the creature’s legs are a lot longer, than their’s and it’s catching up fast. She reaches into the bag, which is hanging at one of her belts, taking out one of the bombs, pressing two buttons on it.

“Lucy?! What are you doing?” The expression of his face is terrified, when he identifies the little thing in her hand. 

“Stopping this thing! Just keep running!” Something clicks quietly and Lucy throws one bomb up, it starts ticking, followed by another 3. They all stick to the ceiling of the cave and she places two more on the side, once they come close to the exit. Further back, an explosion goes off and the ground shakes once more. The ceiling gives in and comes crashing down, while they still head for the end. 

Both of them jump out of the cave and land harshly on the rocks, blinded by Kadara’s sunlight. Behind them.. Stones lock the cave and with it the Eiroch inside of it. Lucy breathes harshly and rolls onto her back with a quiet: ‘Fuck.’ 

“You, woman, are insane.” Reyes stares at her from the side, looking disbelieving. 

“Whoops?”, she replies and starts laughing, covering her face with two hands. Adrenaline is still running through her veins, when she jumps up to her feet and checks her pockets, but the Datapad survived the run without any damages. 

A ping from Reyes’ omnitool catches her attention. It sounds like an incoming communication. He picks up the call and frowns instantly, and so does Lucy, when she hears the voice of her brother coming from the other end. 

“Vidal.” Jake’s voice sounds rather forced and uncomfortable. Good, should he choke on his words. “Found anything?”

Wait… Her brother knew, that they came out here? Has Reyes lied to her? She knows, that he isn’t the most honest man in the galaxy, but directly lying to her….

“Yes, though we need to discuss this further. Rather in person.”, Reyes answers after a moment, not looking at her and it makes her angry. 

“Alright, I give you a ping, when we are entering Kadara’s orbit.”

And then, the commlink is already gone. Lucy crosses her arms over her chest and glares at Vidal with a deadly stare. She is looking for something to refer him to… Something symbolic.. “You know, Reyes. You remind me of something from earth.. An animal.. It’s rather cool actually..” 

He regards her with a questioning gaze, raising an eyebrow slightly, though his expression shows, that he knows.. She is mad.   
“A snake. A fucking snake.”, she hisses at him and turns around, jumping down the rocks, they had climbed before and takes the path to his shuttle, not even looking back. She is so angry and furious, that he kept that from her. Most of all because it is her brother and Reyes is well aware of their relationship. 

She rips the shuttle door open and decides to stay in the back, not having any desire to go into further confrontation with him. 

Reyes follows her a bit later, not long, maybe a minute or two. As he tries to say something, Lucy just shushes him with a harsh movement from her hand. This is enough to silence him for now, as the shuttle lifts off and turns, probably setting course towards the outpost. They still have to report back to Christmas. Again she sits there with the Initiative…..

~

“So this ‘Yaz’ person takes our resources and takes it away.. somewhere? Or want to replace our goods with their own?” Jake is as skeptical, as always. He drops the datapad on the table and crosses his arms over his chest. Lucy says nothing. She leans against a wall, keeping herself out of the business between Christmas, Jake and Reyes. 

Her gaze turns towards the window. The Tempest parks outside of the Outpost, not far away. In front of it she sees Peebee, jumping up and down and waving towards her. Lucy looks over to the group of men talking and decides it would be a good idea to slip out and meet with people, who actually like her, even if they belong to the crew of her brother..

 

“Luce! We are staying at Kadara Port for the night. We only go tomorrow afternoon to Meridian. You coming, yes? Music, drinks.. dancing.. swinging your pretty hips.” Peebee instantly falls into a string of words, which make Lucy giggle a little. She gives the Asari a friendly hug and nods. 

“Of course! How can I say no to that?” 

“Awesome! Let’s meet at Tartarus tonight?” She looks totally excited and it would do Lucy herself some good to finally blow off some steam, on other ways than sleeping with Reyes. 

“Tartarus? Not Kralla’s Song? Alright.. meet you there… at 22?” Lucy smiles softly and looks at Vetra, who is standing behind Peebee. The turian woman just nods towards her.

“Sounds great, see you tonight!” 

The three of them keep talking for a while, exchanging adventures and stories, they have to share. Even with the grudge she holds against her brother, Lucy got along with most of the crew just nicely. It is good to see them all again, since usually she only stumbles over Jake, when he makes his visits to Kadara, even with trying to avoid him. 

“Lucy.” Reyes’ voice breaks the friendly chatter and all eyes are on him the second, he says something. “I’m heading back to Kadara Port, you want a lift or stay?” He seems careful, like he should be. She is still angry at him, so her answer is a simple nod and: “I’ll be there in a moment.”

He gives her a short look and then turns around, to walk back to his shuttle. The small group is silent and then, Peebee coughs a bit awkwardly. “Well, we see you tonight, Luce.”

“Yes, sure.” Lucy hugs the young Asari once more and then jogs after Vidal to the dark brown shuttle. On her way she meets Jake’s eyes, who just steps out of the Outpost and gives her a nod and a smirk… She has the gigantic desire to punch his face, but since that wouldn’t be a good thing to punch a Pathfinder…

“Still mad?” Reyes leaned against the shuttle door, stepping aside when she attempts to enter. 

“You shouldn’t have kept that from me. You know how things are going between me and my brother.” Lucy sits down on one of the seats, loosening the collar of her armor. She isn’t exactly angry with him. Reyes is her friend, but she doesn’t like being lied to. They agreed on trusting each other so many weeks ago. 

“I’m sorry, Lucy. I just didn’t want to bother you with it. Didn’t expect the Pathfinder to call just the second we jump out of that damn cave..” He sits down into the pilot seat and starts powering up the shuttle.

“It’s whatever. You coming with us having some drinks later on? Peebee asked me.” 

“I guess, I can. When do you wish to leave?”, he asks, while they take off the ground and get some height. “I need to talk with some of my contacts first.”

“22:00, is what she said. You can drop in a bit later, I guess?” 

“No, 22:00 is fine. Let’s go home.”

~

The hammering base of the music playing in the Tartarus might have set most people off, but for Lucy it is relaxing. It is like a massage to her troubled mind and cuts off all the bad thoughts, that haunt her during her daytime. So she steps into the club at exactly 22:03, with a smile on her lips. She is wearing something casual. A tank top, her boots and a very short skirt, underneath some stockings. Jake will get a heart attack when he sees her like this.

She looks around and spots Peebee, Vetra, Liam, Vetra… and Jake… on a table not far away from her. Even with her brother being there, she smiles at her friends and walks towards them, with a small wave. 

Before Lucy knows it, a glass filled with a brownish alcohol is in her hand. From the smell she says it’s whiskey. Peebee grins at her and clinks her glass to Lucy’s. “You’re just on time! Come on! Sit down and drink some booze with us!”

She looks a bit uncertain to Jake, who is avoiding her gaze and talks with Liam. It is a weird feeling to be around him and not fight with him… or worse. 

The first bottle of whiskey turns empty… The second is halfway gone, when Peebee grabs Lucy’s hand and yells something against the music, what faintly makes her think that she says ‘dancing’? 

That is alright with her. She loves dancing. With an honest laugh, she jumps to her feet and follows to the middle of the dancefloor. The unloved Ryder twin throws her hands into the air for a moment and starts dancing with her asari friend, ready to forget the world around her. 

Peebee’s hands are gentle and soft on her body, their movements matching each other in a sensual, but also joyful way. It is an easy dance between the two of them. They laugh and just enjoy the moment, not aware of the eyes watching them. 

At the end of the song, Lucy and Peebee part, breathless and giggling wildly, mostly influenced by the alcohol they had before. Walking back to the table, to join the others, Lucy is stopped. Someone grabs her wrist and she nearly throws a fist at the certain someone, but she sees early enough, that this someone is Reyes. He looks rather serious.

“You made it. Everything alright?” She frowns slightly at him, when he lets go of her.

“Yes, but we both need to see Keema tomorrow morning.” He gestures towards the table, the familiar twinkle in his eyes again, full of mischief. “Want to grab another drink?”

“Well, now that you are here….” Lucy looks over at her brother, laughing and chatting with Vetra about various things, she can’t make out. 

“That bad, huh?” Vidal follows her gaze and shakes his head. “Come on, let’s relax. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.” He puts an arm around her shoulders and guides her back to the others for more alcohol and maybe still a fun night, even with the presence of her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least they had some fun, before things got serious, yes? ^^


End file.
